More than Human

A major exhibition bringing together art, science and radical thinking to ask how design can help our planet thrive by shifting its focus beyond human needs.

Why has design traditionally only focused on the needs of humans, when we exist alongside billions of animals, plants and other living beings? This groundbreaking exhibition offers a new perspective, one that will be crucial to enabling the planet to thrive.

This will be the first major exhibition on a growing movement of 'more-than-human' design, presenting a new generation of international designers whose practices embrace the idea that human activities can only flourish alongside other species and systems. It is created in collaboration with Future Observatory, the Design Museum’s national research programme for the green transition.

Featuring art, design, architecture and technology, this thought-provoking show will present visitors with radical ideas on how to design with — and better understand — the living world. By bringing together over 140 works spanning contemporary and traditional practices, fine art, product design, architecture and interactive installations, the exhibition will explore how humans can relearn to design with and for the natural world in the face of climate emergency.

There are more than 50 artists, architects and designers in the exhibition with highlights including artworks for octopuses by Japanese artist Shimabuku and a brand-new monumental seaweed installation by artist Julia Lohmann created specifically for the exhibition, an organic form that will appear to be growing from the ground of the space. A vast new tapestry that explores the perspectives of pollinators by Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg has been commissioned, as well as a huge 8m mural by MOTH (More Than Human Life Project), depicting the growing movement to award legal rights to waterways around the world. Other new commissions will feature by Paulo Tavares and Feifei Zhou, research fellows supported by Future Observatory.

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